What country are we living in again? “The Environmental Protection Agency has been conducting dangerous experiments on humans over the past few years in order to justify more onerous clean air regulations. The agency conducted tests on people with health issues and the elderly, exposing them to high levels of potentially lethal pollutants, without disclosing the risks of cancer and death, according to a newly released government report.” Report: EPA tested deadly pollutants on humans to push Obama admin’s agenda

For the Left it is always “Do as I say, not as I do.” “So what do progressives really want? If, as I suspect, the currency of progressivism isn’t policies or results, but emotions, what does that approach build? What kind of a country do you get when political leaders are driven by a desire to feel that they are more enlightened, noble, tolerant, wise, sensitive, conscious, and smart than most other people? The evidence before us suggests progressives’ ideal society would be one where they enjoy great power to regulate the lives of others and impose restrictions and limitations they themselves would never accept in their own lives. Very few people object to an aristocracy with special rights and privileges as long as they’re in it.” The Progressive Aristocracy: The Left seeks a separate set of rules for themselves.

What an idiot. “In a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said free enterprise isn’t always best. Government must step in. “The free enterprise system is a strong system,” he said, but it ‘created unfairness and injustice when it came to health care, which we are addressing with this Affordable Care Act.’” Durbin Criticizes Free Enterprise: ‘Created Unfairness and Injustice’

Lying about it doesn’t make it so. “Suddenly ObamaCare is a roaring success, happy days are here again and liberals are euphoric, or claim to be. There are more than a few reasons to doubt this new fairy tale, not least the behavior of Senate Democrats running for re-election this year. In the Rose Garden Tuesday, President Obama reported that 7.1 million people had signed up so far, confirming a Monday night White House news leak. “That doesn’t mean all our health-care problems have been solved forever,” he conceded with customary modesty. The government appears to have tapped heretofore-unknown reserves of bureaucratic efficiency by releasing numbers timed to this campaign-style pep rally. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on the Affordable Care Act with Vice President Joe Biden in the Rose Garden. Yet for months the Health and Human Services Department has refused to disclose crucial contextual data, such as how many insurance contracts are in force, the market-by-market totals and how many beneficiaries were previously covered. Regardless of your partisan sympathies, the White House’s selective disclosure is a crime against transparency and accountable government.” The ObamaCare Copperheads: If the law is now such a success, why are Senate Democrats still fleeing?

Not doing as promised, by design. “When the Democrats passed Obamacare, they claimed that it would do two things. It would help (or force) the uninsured to get insurance. It would also reduce costs for the average American family. Obama directly promised that it would reduce premiums for American families by as much as $2500 per year. Judging Obamacare by its original criteria, not the sales job that Obama and his hirelings are using now, Obamacare is a failure. Costs have gone up. The number of uninsured after Obamacare will still be in the tens of millions. And the employer mandate has not even kicked in yet.” Seven Million? Who Does the Obama White House Think They’re Fooling?

Blowing up a perfectly good system. “But that wasn’t what was promised. Americans were told that reform would lower costs for everyone, and that no one would lose the policies they previously held and liked. People are dissatisfied with Obamacare because they’ve realized the law will never deliver on these promises. Indeed, just yesterday it was announced that health-care costs rose at the fastest pace in a decade in the last three months of 2013. Most Americans are seeing no benefit whatsoever from Obamacare, and in fact are paying much more than they ever have before.” The ACA: Still Falling Short: A realistic assessment of Obamacare shows it is not delivering what was promised.

Lying loser. ‘The White House spent $52 million in the last three months to urge people to enroll in Obamacare, but “we didn’t have billions of dollars in commercials like some critics did,” the president said. “Many of the tall tales” about the law, he said, were debunked along the way. “There are still no death panels. . . . Instead this law is helping millions of Americans.” He had a warning for opponents of the law: ”History is not kind to those who would deny Americans their basic economic security.” Obama Takes Victory Lap at Obamacare Presser, Says ‘Debate Is Over’

Clueless lying losers. “So what in the world could the White House have been thinking? Here’s a guess: They look at the ObamaCare lines and think not of communist subjects queuing up for bread or toilet paper, or Americans for driver’s licenses, but something more like the lines of consumers eager to be the first to get the new iPhone or the latest Harry Potter book. Affluent people often wait in line for things about which they have a particular enthusiasm–or for special experiences, like an amusement park ride, concert or meal at a favorite restaurant.” Yes, We Can Wait: Want medical insurance? Get in line.

Don’t ever forget that this law was FORCED on us without any Republican input. “But most importantly, the Obama administration is not admitting that it used naked, brute force to coerce Americans into signing up for Obamacare. Failing to sign up can get the IRS, with its auditors and armed agents, unleashed on you. When faced with that prospect, sure, it’s not all that hard to persuade people to do what you want. It’s a lesson that feudal chiefs, tyrants, pirates and bandits learned a long time ago. The 7 million that President Obama touted today is a false number, he knows that it is a false number, and he knows that it is based on the threat of force. In fact, his administration couldn’t even give a solid number until today. How convenient.” The Most Un-American Speech Barack Obama Has Ever Delivered

Calling a spade a spade: “An unjust, lousy system.” “Personally, though, I think Obamacare’s worst fault is its unfairness. In my opinion, it is immoral to force people to buy coverages that they can’t use, don’t want, and can’t afford. It is also grossly unfair to force some people to pay excessive prices for health insurance, or any other service, in order to subsidize their neighbors. Obamacare, at its heart, is not just ill-conceived or inefficient; it is unfair. No one should celebrate driving millions of people into an unjust, lousy system.” A Famous Victory For Obamacare?

You can’t fix stupid. “But while this is the sort of speech that plays well to hand picked crowds of sycophants, it won’t play as well on the campaign trail this year in swing or red states where Senate seats are at stake. The White House may be urging his party to follow his lead and double down on a law that has always been opposed by most Americans. But that has more to do with Obama seeking to burnish his legacy than the survival of endangered Democrats. Their “fix it, don’t nix it” approach to the issue is already a difficult sell outside of deep blue strongholds. Embracing the president’s stand would be nothing short of a suicide run for any Democrat in trouble. Obama may think the debate is over but what he will find out before the year is over is that it is only getting started.” Obama TD Dance a Poor Strategy for Dems

Phony numbers, horrible president. “However, Krauthammer also thinks the 7.1 million enrollees touted by the administration is a “phony number” because we don’t know how many of that 7.1 million have paid for their insurance or how many were previously uninsured. ‘If it turns out that the overwhelming majority of the so-called 7.1 were people who had health insurance, liked their health insurance, were renewing their health insurance, and got kicked off their health insurance,” Krauthammer said, “whose lives are disrupted, premiums are raised, deductibles are raised, and lost their doctors are now among the 7.1, so it’s a net negative.’” Krauthammer’s Take: 7.1 Million Enrollees a ‘Phony Number’

Smoke and mirrors. “The Obama administration has proven itself highly capable of stonewalling the release of inconvenient information. So the strategy here no doubt will be to drag out the release of actual details on who has paid, who was previously without insurance, and where the 7.1 million figure released just hours after the deadline came from. It is smoke and mirrors, but that is the way of Obama, and has been throughout his entire national political career.” Obama’s Rose Garden phony numbers ‘tell’

It will never be over. “What Republican will stand up today and say something like this: No, Mr. President. No way, Mr. President. We do not accept, we do not acquiesce in, this deplorable piece of legislation. The debate is not over. The debate will continue. It must continue. What is at stake is sound health care policy for America. But what is also at stake is reversing your attempt, Mr. President, to transform a free country committed to limited government into merely another nation burdened with the worst aspects of big-government nanny-statism. [Snip] President Obama, you might wish the debate were over. You might think you can intimidate us into conceding the debate is over. But you are wrong. The Republican party stands committed, acting through democratic means and as the agent of a self-governing people, to repealing and replacing Obmacare.” No, Mr. President, the Debate is Not Over

Big Government

There’s a crisis at every turn these days. “The federal government is headed for a crisis, a new report warns, and without reforms, a homegrown problem threatens to derail everything from foreign policy, to entitlements, to food safety. The problem is the way the government manages its more than 2 million civil servants, according to a report from the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and government consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.” Study: Civil servant system outdated

I threw away my “signed letter” from Christie immediately after this took place. “’I think many Republicans are extremely upset with what was described in the press as giving Obama a bear hug,” Krauthammer said on Sunday in a debate with Obama strategist David Plouffe, according to Politico. “I saw it slightly differently, I thought it was more of like a lap dance. Not a phrase I would use on television, since the image is too disturbing.’” Krauthammer: Christie Gave Obama ‘Lap Dance’ After Sandy

Foreign Policy

Nothing’s working right. “The looming wreckage of President Obama’s Mideast peace push could lead to the freedom of a man held captive decades in excess of what justice demands. All the rest looks to be a disaster. Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are dangling release of Jonathan Pollard, an American sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for spying for Israel, in the hope of pushing the Jewish state to release hundreds of Palestinians convicted of terrorism offenses in the hope of convincing the Palestinians to get with the peace program. The obvious American desperation ran smack into the equally obvious obstructionism of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who ceremoniously petitioned more than a dozen international agencies of the United Nations for formal recognition of a Palestinian state. Game over, no matter how fervently Obama and Kerry cling to hope that it’s not.” Kerry’s shambles: Mideast peace push turns to mush

Islam

Useful idiots. “Real Muslims understand the critical importance of teaching the young. The critical importance, that is, of teaching them the “right” things and not teaching them the “wrong” things. The most important single element of stealth Islamization is the effort to convert Western schools from centers of secular education into hubs of Islamic indoctrination. Fortunately, there are plenty of dhimmi teachers and school administrators eager to help out, convinced that they’re serving the interests of multicultural peace and harmony. These days, for some reason, this form of dhimmitude seems to be most prevalent – and to take its acutest form – in England.” Islamizing Britain’s Schools

The Left

If you don’t like your co-founder’s personal beliefs then find another company to work for. “As Maggie Gallagher noted on the Corner, thousands have signed a petition calling for new Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich to either openly endorse gay marriage or be fired. Six years ago, Eich donated $1,000 to the successful Proposition 8 campaign that created a constitutional amendment preserving the traditional definition of marriage in California. Eich, who is famous for creating JavaScript, was a co-founder of Mozilla and was appointed CEO after having served as Mozilla’s chief technology officer since 2005. Since Thursday, several Mozilla employees have called for Eich to resign because of his view on marriage. A few took to Twitter to publicize their opinions.” Mozilla Employees Call for CEO to be Fired for Donating to Prop 8 Campaign

Freedom of speech only if you agree. “They’re in favor of freedom– the freedom to think, act, speak, believe and be precisely as they instruct you to be. First the dating site OKCupid began a campaign — apparently on the front page of its website — suggesting a boycott of Mozilla (makers of the popular FireFox browser) for the crime of having agree with Barack Obama on gay marriage in 2006. Then, of course, MSNBC began campaigning against him, calling his political donation a “black mark” in an otherwise-acceptable Stasi file. Now, get this, Mozilla employees are tweeting that their CEO must step down. Incredible. Here’s a fun thought experiment: What if the CEO fired the employees demanding he resign? Can you imagine the firestorm?” Shocker: Social Left Now On a Crusade to Force Head of Mozilla to Step Down Due to 2006 Donation of $1,000 to Prop 8

Repeat after me: “Those on the Left are NOT civil.” “The mother of the 16-year-old pro-life demonstrator who suffered a rough confrontation with a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has shown a rare civility — the spirit liberals are forever bemoaning the lack of but rarely exhibit themselves. The event: A small group of pro-life activists visited UCSB to demonstrate against abortion. They bore posters and leaflets and set up their display on the campus’s “free speech zone.” Professor Mireille Miller-Young was offended, no, “triggered,” by the photo of an aborted baby on Thrin Short’s poster. Together with two or three students, the professor grabbed a large sign, and then pushed and scratched the girl who attempted to take it back. This was captured on video by the pro-lifers. “I was stronger, so I took the sign,” Miller-Young explained later. Miller-Young has since been charged with misdemeanor theft, battery (Short’s arms bore scratches, also photographed), and vandalism (Miller-Young and her students cut the sign to pieces). Throughout the unpleasant encounter, the professor and her students let fly with profanity and insults. The civility: Catherine Short, mother of Thrin, issued a statement reading in part: ‘Unfortunately, along with the expressions of support we have received, we have become aware of individuals engaging in ad hominem attacks against Miller-Young. We do not condone this, and we ask that such attacks stop.’” Professors as Petty Tyrants: Professors as Petty Tyrants

Blinded by party affiliation. “Having assiduously ignored one of the gonzo corruption stories of the last decade, CNN this week offered a peculiar defense of its silence. Rankled by a curious Twitter user, who asked why “the Leland Yee story appears nowhere on CNN’s website,” the outlet explained that the decision was “in line with us covering state senators & state secretary of state races just about never.” “You see another conspiracy?” the account asked its inquisitor, snippily. There is a lot of space between bias and conspiracy, and one does not have to believe that CNN’s editorial staff is sitting around stroking white cats and cackling for its explanation to remain unsatisfactory. A search for the words “state senator” on CNN’s website returns more than 2,800 results, the vast majority of them stories about . . . state senators. “Wendy Davis” — one such state senator — yields 168 entries, many of which predated Davis’s running for governor; “Stacey Campfield,” a Tennessee state senator who has made some choice comments about homosexuals, returns five; and “Ted Nugent,” who is not an elected figure of any sort, returns 186, a substantial number of which relate to comments he made while supporting Texas attorney general and gubernatorial nominee Greg Abbott earlier in the year. For his part, Yee’s name returns just one result, a video in which, per the outlet’s own blurb, he “discusses a bill to help prevent children from having access to violent video games.” If we were to take CNN at its word, then, we would conclude that state senators are unusually fascinating when discussing video games, homosexuality, or abortion, but utterly unremarkable when indicted by the FBI for negotiating with Muslim separatist groups in the Philippines and conspiring to put missile launchers and fully automatic weapons into the hands of the Mafia. “Conspiracy”? Nah. That requires self-awareness.” Radio Silence on Leland Yee: He stands accused of conspiring to arm the Mafia, but the media won’t say it.

Minimum Wage

They needed a study to tell us this? “A newstudy by the free-market American Action Forum found that states with minimum wages higher than the federal minimum suffer from higher unemployment. Researchers looked at labor data from both the nineteen states that as of 2013 had enforced minimum wages above $7.25 per hour and the thirty-one states that had minimum wages equal to $7.25. Overall, they found that just a $1 increase in the minimum wage was ‘associated with a 1.48 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate,” and a “0.18 percentage point decrease in the net job growth rate.’” Study: States with higher minimum wages had higher unemployment

War on Poverty

Again, repeat after me: “Leftist policies NEVER work.” “The study observes that in 1965, the poverty rate was 17.3 percent. In 2012, it was 15 percent. This means taxpayers blew a staggering $20.7 trillion over the last half century in order to achieve a paltry 2.3 percentage point decrease in poverty.” The War on Poverty — $21 Trillion Later

“The War on Poverty has failed because, like most of progressive utopianism, it ignores the flaws of human nature. Having discarded notions like sin and vice as retrograde superstitions out of touch with scientific knowledge, progressivism has thrown out as well the virtues like self-control, personal responsibility, and hard work that control the sorts of destructive behaviors contributing to poverty. Indeed, poverty today strongly correlates with unwed motherhood, not working, and dropping out of school, all of which were once stigmatized and made one an object of shame. Even more troubling, as John C. Goodman of the Independent Institute pointed out recently, the government knew long ago that their programs would create the wrong incentives by rewarding bad behavior. Studies conducted in the late 1960s “established without question that welfare changes behavior. It leads to the very behavioral changes that keep people in a state of poverty and dependency.” So why have these programs continued to expand, and new ones like Obamacare continue to be created?” Winners and Losers in the War on Poverty

We’ve got a terrific line up for our annual Christmas program. First up will be the Ignite Barbershop Quartet. Ignite began singing together after a quartet matching party in November 2015. They are all Champion members of Region 21’s Scottsdale Chorus and they will be singing for us!

After lunch, Congressional District 6 congressman, Representative David Schweikart, will talk to us about what’s happening in Washington DC, and provide us with a status of the Tax Bill working its way through the House of Representatives and Senate.

Finally, member Julia Graham will install our new 2018/2019 officers. We look forward to seeing you and be sure to bring a friend or two or three!